Making Sure She Hears
by sdbubbles
Summary: Gibbs is messing with Jenny by making aside comments, appearing oblivious to what he's done. He has his reasons, but will he admit to what he's doing when she becomes suspicious? Jibbs.


**A/N: Don't ask me where this came from, 'cause I don't have a clue. It's probably not something Gibbs would do, anyway.**

**Hope you think it's OK!**

**Sarah x**

* * *

"You gotta be kidding," Jenny huffed seriously as she watched Gibbs flick through a bridal magazine.

"Old habit," he told her. "This dress would look good on you," he said absent-mindedly. He didn't even realise he'd said it. Or so it appeared to Jenny.

"Come again?" Jenny demanded. She was almost certain she'd misheard him. He had a girlfriend, after all. "I don't think Colonel Mann would like you saying that."

"Saying what, Jen?" he asked her, apparently confused. He simply looked at her.

"You said that I-" Jenny stopped talking, believing it would be better to leave him oblivious, for his own good. "Never mind."

Gibbs smirked as he got in the car with Jenny, Kort and Fornell. He knew exactly what he'd done. He wanted her to feel good about herself for once. And he would keep doing it until she did.

* * *

Gibbs was on the phone with Jenny, while sitting at _her_ desk and using _her_ phone. "Jethro," she replied, having thought she was talking to Cynthia. "I should've recognised the heavy breathing."

"You're blushing, aren't you?" Gibbs guessed, smirking again.

"Why would I be?" Jenny requested.

"You didn't guess it was me," he stated simply. "You thought I was Cynthia, and now you're calling yourself an idiot."

"Uh-huh," she agreed grudgingly. Jenny hated it when Jethro could tell would she was thinking, even when she was halfway across the world.

"You always were pretty when you were blushing," he muttered, just loud enough so she could make out what he was saying, but at the same time quiet enough that she thought she wasn't meant to hear it.

"What did you just say?" she checked. He was getting too good at mumbling to himself about her.

"Nothing," he claimed. "Why? What did you think I said?"

"You said that I'm pretty when I blush. I know you did. You did the same thing when we were waiting for Fornell and Kort. Then you acted all confused!" Jenny almost shouted in frustration. "You're doing it again!"

"I'm not doing anything, Jen," he lied. He knew that she knew what he was saying. She just thought he was saying it to himself. He hoped.

"You know what? Never mind," Jenny sighed before hanging up the phone. However, she did smile slightly to herself. Did he really think she was pretty when she blushed?

* * *

"Is this issue going to involve lawyers?" Jenny asked of Gibbs and Colonel Mann.

"It already did," Hollis smirked. Gibbs looked away while she continued. "It's his ex-wife. She's a material witness."

"And which ex would that be?" Jenny enquired, wearing a slightly sarcastic smile. Well, it was a little funny, from her point of view.

"Stephanie," Gibbs answered.

"What number is she again? Second?" she suggested.

"Third." He was getting a bit pissed off. She was winding him up. She knew the answers to these questions.

"Oh, right. You lived in Europe with her for a while. Frankfurt."

"Moscow," he corrected her deliberate mistake. At least she was having fun with it.

"Two years?"

"One."

"Well, it's hard to live in Moscow. With anyone," she teased.

He did like the fact that she was joking around for the first time in what felt like years, even if it was at his expense.

"Do you think he should…_divorce _himself from this case, Colonel Mann?" Jenny hinted.

"No, no," Mann contradicted her with a small smile. She, too, found Gibbs' situation slightly amusing.

"Nor do I. I don't see a problem if you conduct the interview." She turned to her former lover. "Do you have a problem with Colonel Mann interviewing you ex-wife, Agent Gibbs?" She was enjoying his discomfort thoroughly.

"Do I have a choice?"

"No," replied the women in unision. Jenny was trying to conceal the amusement she felt.

Later that day, she passed Jethro and Duck talking. "She must've found that highly amusing, Jennifer being Jennifer," Ducky stated.

Gibbs, who had caught a glimpse of Jenny standing within earshot said, "At least she's smiling again. God knows I miss it."

Ducky looked bewildered. Gibbs hardly ever spoke his mind about Jenny. When he saw Jenny so near, he realised Gibbs was up to something. He had a feeling he knew what, too.

Jenny was now striding past them, Jethro's words ringing in her head.

* * *

Jenny walked out of interrogation with Gibbs, after getting some piece of information out of Choyce. "Good to see you're still a good interrogator," Gibbs said barely audibly as he exited the room with Jenny on his six.

"Thanks," she replied, stunned.

"What for?" Gibbs turned around, evidently puzzled.

"You said that I'm still good in interrogation," Jenny reminded him. Was he doing this on purpose? "You're doing it again."

"I told you. I'm not doing anything," he lied. He was getting somewhere, because he could've sworn he'd caught her smile. Now, however, she was puzzled. Gibbs was now three feet in front of her. "Damn, she's cute when she's confused," he added in an aside he knew she would only just hear. He walked away, leaving her to try and figure it out.

* * *

Gibbs walked in on Jenny and Carson mucking around with playing cards and a waste paper basket. As they cheered together, he shook his head and muttered, "And she says I'm the one who's good with kids."

Jenny got to her feet and stood inches away from him. "Alright, Jethro. Stop playing games. What are you up to?"

"I'm not up to anything," he insisted.

"Yes, you are. The past six months, you've been complimenting me when you think I can't hear you," she accused, looking him directly in the eyes.

"No, I haven't," he denied. He knew that now was the time to come clean. "I made damn sure that you could hear me."

Jenny was stunned. Why the hell would he do that? "Wanna tell me why you've been messing with me?"

"Because you don't think enough of yourself," Gibbs informed her. "I want you to feel good about who you are and how you look."

"Jethro-" she began, but she was stopped in her tracks. Suddenly, she found a pair of lips on top of her own. She kissed him back passionately in a way that made him think he'd done her confidence some good.

Jenny pulled away and head-slapped Jethro with a grin. "Hey! What was that for?" he asked indignantly.

"Never, ever screw with me like that again, Leroy Jethro Gibbs," she ordered. She put his arms around his waist and put her head on his chest. "Not that it didn't work, though."

He laughed quietly to himself and held her tight.

His plan had worked.

* * *

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**Sarah x**


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